#Fixing Uncle Sam’s global broadcasting arm is more important than ever

Now more than ever, our nation must engage the the global war of ideas.

America’s adversaries — especially China, Russia, and Iran — have aggressively ramped up their disinformation and propaganda campaigns. At the same time, they are denying their own citizens access to the Internet and objective sources of news. The world needs to hear from us, and it needs to hear what America actually stands for: the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. We need to get the truth to those starved for it.

The US Agency for Global Media, formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors, is the federal organization tasked with doing just that. I serve as its first presidentially appointed, congressionally-confirmed chief executive. It needs a turnaround badly, and I’m determined to deliver one.

During the Cold War, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — two of the five broadcasters now under the USAGM umbrella — were beacons of liberty in dark places. Leaders of the anti-Communist movement, such as Lech Wałęsa and Václav Havel, cited these broadcasters’ crucial role in giving captive nations hope and, eventually, overthrowing Soviet tyranny.

Unfortunately, since the end of the Cold War, US international broadcasting has foundered owing to a lack of leadership. In 1994, to save money, all the government broadcasters were slammed together and put under a board comprised of nine members, each expected to work only a day or so a month.

But no broadcaster of such size anywhere in the world is managed in such a way. In time, leaders of both political parties condemned the arrangement. In 2012, James Glassman, a former chairman of the BBG, said his former agency was “structurally a mess.” The following year, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified to Congress: “Our Broadcasting Board of Governors is practically defunct in terms of its capacity to be able to tell a message around the world.”

Employee morale at the agency plummeted. According to data from the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, for midsize federal agencies, the USAGM has ranked close to or at the very bottom for years.

Scandals rocked the agency as well. In 2014, a US State Department and BBG inspector-general audit revealed mismanagement and abuse of power. In 2018, VOA terminated 15 journalists after an internal investigation found that they had accepted bribes from a Nigerian official. And last year, the USAGM’s Chief Strategy Officer — and the person who had been tapped to lead VOA — was sentenced to three months for stealing government money.

Back in 2016, President Barack Obama had already decided that enough was enough, and he prudently signed the bipartisan bill that created the CEO position of the USAGM, replacing the nine-member board, finally providing the opportunity for real agency management and oversight.

Now, I am here to fix a non-partisan mess. On Tuesday, June 16, the day before I even entered the building for the first time, both the director and the deputy director of VOA resigned. The next day, I dismissed the heads of the other five organizations within the USAGM, because it was evident a clean start was required. In their place, I chose, as interim heads, long-serving career professionals.

The mainstream media’s reaction was over the top. CNN, relying upon the account of a “former official,” published an article that described my actions as a “Wednesday night massacre,” even though fewer than 10 people of about 3,600 employees left — and not a single career civil servant.

Some outlets portrayed the restructuring as an ideological “purge” of non-conservatives. But two out of the five broadcaster heads dismissed are Republicans.

A lot has been made about my past association with Steve Bannon, who served as a consultant with the title of executive producer on two of my PBS documentaries. In my more than 30 years of making PBS documentaries, many others have served in a similar role. Guilt by association is a McCarthyite tactic.

My confirmation took three years. The process was long and grueling, replete with false accusations and malicious attacks on my character and experience. Powerful forces were and remain deeply committed to the status quo at the agency I now lead.

I stuck it out, however, because I am passionate about the mission of the agency: “to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.”

I will dedicate my three-year term to achieving that mission and empowering our journalists around the world. These heroic individuals are fighting to provide those living in closed regimes with objective and balanced news, and they are committed to defending American ideals, freedom of expression and human rights.

With our values and interests under attack worldview, America must speak with a compelling and resonant voice. The USAGM must lead the way. Much depends upon it.

Michael Pack is the chief executive of the US Agency for Global Media.